A conventional police baton is a club which is typically about two-feet long and about one inch in diameter. Such baton is made from wood, hard rubber or a plastic material. The baton is gripped at one end and is used in a sweeping or jabbing motion in disarming and apprehending a suspect.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 230,150 discloses a branched short handle secured at right angles to the main branch. The user can grip the baton by the short handle and is thus able to perform a horizontal swinging motion, by allowing the cross handle to turn in the user's hand. The baton achieves significantly greater velocity during a swing stroke because the rotational speed is added to the speed of the swinging motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,409 discloses a crosshandled baton in which the branched short handle is pivotal relative to the main branch. A sleeve is provided on a shank over half of the branched short handle nearest the main branch. By loosening the grip on the outer half of the branched short handle while maintaining a firm grip on the inner half (between thumb and index finger) the baton will pivot freely in the rotatable sleeve without any risk of the short handle working up out of the user's hand. Another possible use of the crosshandle is as a hook as set forth in U.S. Pat No. 4,703,932. The user can reach out the baton and hook a limb of the person by the branched short handle. However, the force which a limb exerts against the baton may be such as to cause the user's hand holding the baton to be twisted, allowing the baton to move away from the limb being engaged. In that manner, the suspect may easily disengagement himself from control via the baton.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,636 relates to a crosshandled baton in which the branched short handle is provided with a trigger wherein its rotational capability is controlled by the user. Result: the user can control the baton with either hand because of the position of the trigger that delatches the short handle from the main branch. In addition, the main body could be formed with an interior cavity. The purpose is many-fold: to reduce the weight of the baton, support telescoping cylinders within the cavity, support movable lead beads or shot that travels toward the tip of the baton and support a tear gas canister.
However, often such hollow construction leads to disadvantages when such batons are used in actual disarming situations. For example, the cavity may reduced the weight of the baton below that desired in using the baton in its usual jabbing and/or swinging maneuvers. The addition of movable elements (when the latter are fitted within the cavity), may make the baton difficult to use. For example, when the baton is used in a swinging or jabbing mode of operation, the sudden addition of momentum due to relative movement to such elements toward the end of the baton, may makes the balance of the baton uneven and lead to difficulties in the user controlling the amount of force the baton delivers to the suspect's body, especially where the user is involved in a confrontational situation where circumstances facing the user change rapidly with time.